Examples of roll-up shades can be appreciated from U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,860,312 and 7,086,446. Roll-up shades often include a panel of window covering material attached at its top edge to a headrail. Two or more looped lift cords extend from the headrail down a front face of the panel of window covering material, around the bottom edge of the panel and up an opposite rear face of the panel of window covering material into the headrail. The lift cords may then pass through a cord lock in the headrail or wind around a cord collector within the headrail that is coupled to a spring motor, electric motor, or a loop cord drive. Movement of the lift cords into the headrail can cause the panel of window covering material to roll-up as the window covering material is raised and movement of the lift cords out of the headrail can cause the window covering material to unroll as it is lowered. The looped lift cords are spaced apart from one another. The number of looped lift cords can typically depend upon the width of the window covering material but most, if not all, conventional roll-up shades have at least two looped lift cords.
In recent years there has been an increased concern in the window covering industry about child safety as it relates to exposed cords. For instance, there have been instances involving some types of blinds in which a child's head and neck have become entangled in a cord loop that is used to raise and lower the blind. Roll-up shades often have looped lift cords in which the panel of window covering material is captured. Some have observed that the exposed looped lift cords in a conventional roll-up shade could pose the same danger as lift cord loops that are can be formed in connection with other types of blinds such as a venetian blind.